Chris Bosh added 20 points and 11 rebounds to help Miami pull into a virtual tie with Boston atop the Eastern Conference. The Celtics lead Miami by .031 percentage points, but the teams are tied in the games-back column.

Give And Take

The Heat made their first 20-point comeback since 2006 on Saturday. The Warriors, on the other hand, blew a 20-point lead for the first time since 2007.

Last 5 20-Point Comebacks By Heat

Largest Deficit

Opponent

Saturday

20

vs. Warriors

3-16-2006

25

vs. Celtics

2-28-2000

20

vs. Knicks

2-28-1999

20

vs. Magic

2-28-1998

20

at Nets

Last 5 20-point Blown Leads By Warriors

Largest Lead

Opponent

Saturday

20

at Heat

11-14-2007

22

vs. Pistons

2-3-2002

21

vs. Suns

11-27-2001

21

at Mavs

4-20-1999

28

vs. Lakers*

* Lost in overtime

— from Elias Sports Bureau

"We weren't playing Miami Heat basketball," Wade said about the first half. "I didn't really notice that team out there. But we got it together."

"Everybody was pretty calm," Bosh said of the mood at the half. "There was no reason to get erratic or kind of lose our cool. We knew we played a subpar first half, especially on the defensive end, and we had to pick it up and change that."

David Lee finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for Golden State, which hit eight of its first nine tries from 3-point range. The largest lead the Warriors had blown in an eventual loss this season was nine, at Detroit on Nov. 7.

And Wright made this one plenty interesting. He connected on his sixth 3-pointer with 5:18 left, then hit a high-arcing layup over Joel Anthony to draw the Warriors to 100-96 a minute later.

It was the last gasp.

Bosh kept a play alive with his team-best third offensive rebound of the night, Mario Chalmers made a 3-pointer from the right wing, James then hit a pair of free throws with 3:14 left, and the Heat cushion was quickly back to 105-96.

"We just didn't have what we usually have on the defensive end," James said. "That's how we got down. Give them a lot of credit, but also, we knew we didn't play really good basketball on both ends at the start of the game."

HEAT INDEX

Said Wade, one of his closest friends: "He's been playing great. ... He had a great game and I'm happy to see him be aggressive that way."

Wright may have been the catalyst of a surprising start by the Warriors, though hardly the only contributor. Ellis and Lee combined for 27 points by halftime as well, further frustrating Miami.

Almost proving everything was going the Warriors' way, Ellis banked one in from half-court at the first-quarter horn, and Golden State -- buoyed by a 6-for-7 effort from 3-point range -- held a 36-28 lead, the most points Miami yielded in a first quarter this season.

It was exactly what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra feared would happen against a high-octane offense. Miami allowed 58 points in the second half against the Knicks on Tuesday, then gave up 119 points the following night in Houston.

Though Miami won both games, Spoelstra ran the Heat through what he called a "training-camp-style" practice on Friday, focusing mostly on defense. The Heat may have been bracing for another of those workouts, since Golden State's offensive onslaught didn't stop in the second quarter, either.

Golden State romped to another 36-point period, held 20-point leads on four separate occasions -- matching the biggest deficit Miami faced all season -- and gave up the final six points of the half to take a 72-58 lead into intermission.

"What we did in the first half was simply not good enough," Spoelstra said. "It's not. You're building bad habits by playing at that level."

It all changed in the third quarter.

Miami forced Golden State into missing its first nine shots, started the half on a game-changing 15-3 run and wound up holding the Warriors to just 12 points in the period on 5 for 20 shooting. And when Bosh made two free throws for an 85-84 edge with 11:27 left to play, the Heat wouldn't trail again.

"They got within their strengths, came out more aggressive, got to the basket, forced the issue a little bit more," Warriors coach Keith Smart said. "That's what they do."

Game notes

Wright's high in 101 games at Miami was 26 points, and he averaged a mere 6.1 on the Heat home floor after being drafted out of high school. ... Miami moved to 6-0 against the Pacific Division. ... Heat forward Juwan Howard grabbed the 5,000th defensive rebound of his career in the third quarter.

Research Notes

From Elias: NEXT LEVEL: One of the ongoing themes of the season has been Miami's success with various combinations of the Big 3 on the floor together. On the season, the Heat have a plus/minus of +14.0 per 48 minutes when all three are on the floor together. On a per-48 minute basis, the Heat are even better when Wade and Bosh play together (while James sits) at +14.6. The worst combination? Playing James and Wade together without Bosh. With that combination, the plus/minus per 48 minutes is negative 18.2

Heat Plus/Minus Per 48 Minutes - This Season

Plus/Minus

Wade and Bosh

+14.6

All 3

+14.0

James and Bosh

+3.2

Wade and James

-18.2

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The Heat were blitzed by the white-hot Warriors in the first half on Saturday. The Warriors scored 72 points in only 46 possessions, good for the most points per possession (1.57) against the Heat in the first half since the 1996-97 season.

Miami Heat - Most Points Per Possession Allowed in First Half, Since 1996-97

Opponent

Date

Pts/Poss

Warriors*

Saturday

1.57

Hawks

4/29/09

1.48

Nuggets

12/8/06

1.46

Wizards

4/4/08

1.45

Knicks*

2/28/09

1.43

* Heat won game

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From Elias: The Heat attempted 31 more FT than the Warriors tonight. That is the 2nd-largest disparity between 2 teams in a game this season. Coincidentally, the only larger disparity came when the Rockets attempted 33 more FT than the Warriors on November 24

The Heat made their first 20-point comeback since 2006 on Saturday. The Warriors, on the other hand, blew a 20-point lead for the first time since 2007.

The Heat trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half vs the Warriors. That is tied for the largest deficit faced by the Heat at any point in the game this season. The Heat trailed the Celtics by 20 points in their 112-107 loss on November 11.

The 10 3-pt FG made by the Warriors in the first half are the most against the Heat in any half this season. The previous high was 7 by the Knicks on December 17.